The present invention relates to packaging equipment. In particular the invention relates to an apparatus and methods for forming, gluing, and filling preformed cartons, particularly cartons which have concave sides.
Current systems for handling products and packages, such as cartons, commonly to use conveyors to move and assemble cartons from blanks, and to then move and transfer products into the formed, glued cartons in an inline process. The conveyors typically include elements, such as carton or product lugs, chains, gears, oscillators, and the like, all of which are typically linked together by a drive system, such as a motor driven chain drive system. The various elements which comprise the packaging equipment combine to form a piece of apparatus called a “cartoner”.
Typical cartoners are generally referred to as “horizontal” or “vertical” cartoners, the distinction being in the manner in which they operate, with horizontal cartoners typically being relatively long machines which are loaded with blank cartons at one end. As they move down the conveyor, the carton blanks are formed and glued into partially formed cartons which lie on their sides. Product is loaded into the partially formed cartons which are “horizontally” oriented, and then their flaps are tucked, glued, and sealed. The fully formed cartons, loaded with product, are then passed to a final station where they are removed for storage or shipping.
As is known by those familiar with the cartoner industry, some so-called “horizontal” cartoners, such as those made by Langen Packaging, Inc. of Mississauga, Canada, can also be “tilted” upwards to about forty-five degrees. Similarly, there are so-called “vertical” cartoners which form cartons from the blanks such that they have a vertical orientation when they are filled.
Each of the known prior art cartoners, whether horizontal, “tilted”, or vertical, is designed to form a carton from a blank, tuck in (and glue) the various flaps, and provide an area (or station) at which a partially formed carton having an open end can be filled with product, either manually or automatically. After the partially formed cartons have been filled, cartoners typically provide a further area in which the remaining flaps of the filled carton are glued and sealed, and then, ultimately removed from the machine, manually or using a conveyor system, whereby fully formed cartons, filled with product, ultimately leave the cartoner.
Based upon their design and operation, cartoners are capable of handling the foregoing operation with up to several thousand cartons being formed and filled in every shift.
As is generally understood, a standard design for a carton is a generally rectangular box, such as those used for products found on the shelves of supermarkets and other stores, filled with everything from cereals to golf balls. A problem which has existed with the cartoners of the prior art, however, is that they are generally limited to handling cartons having only a limited type of shape, while recent market studies have shown that consumers perceive certain shapes, such as a tapered carton having concave sides, as being premium packages which contain premium products.
The heretofore known cartoners have been unable to form cartons from blanks which would provide the formed cartons with such tapered, concave sides.